1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an upright type vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to an upright type vacuum cleaner having a cyclone unit for separating contaminants from contaminant-laden air by a centrifugal force that is formed through a revolving stream of drawn air.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows an upright type vacuum cleaner, such as is disclosed in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/074,161 filed Feb. 12, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,735,816, issued May 18, 2004 and hereby incorporated by reference herein. The upright type vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1 includes a cleaner body 10, a cyclone unit 20 and a dust receptacle 30.
Inside body 10 of the cleaner, a vacuum generating apparatus, i.e., a driving motor (not shown) is mounted. Attached to the underside 12 of the cleaner body 10, a suction brush (not shown) is movably connected. In the front portion of the center of the cleaner body 10, a cyclone housing portion 13 is formed.
The cyclone unit 20 has an inflow passage 21 formed on an upper side that is interconnected through a pipe 14 with the suction brush 12. The contaminants, drawn in from the surface to be cleaned by action of the suction brush 12, flow into the cyclone unit 20 in the air stream via the inflow passage 21. At this time, the air flows into a whirling current along an inner wall of the cyclone unit 20.
The cyclone unit 20 has an outflow passage 22 formed on an upper portion of the center of the cyclone unit 20, interconnected through a pipe 15 with the vacuum generating apparatus. After the contaminants are removed, the air is discharged from the cyclone unit 20 outside the cleaner body 10 through the outflow passage 22 and the vacuum generating apparatus.
The cyclone unit 20 housed in the cyclone housing portion 13 and includes a locking handle 23 for securely mounting the cyclone unit 20 onto the cleaner body 10. The locking handle 23 is inserted into a handle connection portion 16 of the rear wall of cyclone housing portion 13 and is pivoted by 90xc2x0 so as to fix the cyclone unit 20 in place.
In this locking operation, the dust receptacle 30 is removably mounted to the lower portion of the cyclone unit 20, and together these are mounted onto the cyclone housing portion 13. That is, with the dust receptacle 30 being disposed at the lower portion of the cyclone unit 20, and by pivoting an operation lever 41 of a locking unit 40 mounted on the lower portion of the cyclone housing portion 13, a locking disc 42 is transposed in the direction of pivoting, mounting or separating the dust receptacle 30 on/from the lower portion of the cyclone unit 20.
Accordingly, without having to separate the cyclone unit 20 from the cleaner body 10, i.e., by separating only the dust receptacle 30, a user can remove and empty the dust receptacle 30.
However, a problem occurs when the user inadvertently incorrectly connects the dust receptacle 30 to the cyclone housing portion 13. That is, the dust receptacle 30 may be incompletely inserted into the cyclone housing portion 13, causing inaccurate alignment with the lower portion of the cyclone unit 20. In this case, the user cannot turn the operation lever 41, and if the user forcefully tries to turn the operation lever 41, the dust receptacle 30 and/or the operation lever 41 may become deformed or broken. If the cleaner is operated with the dust receptacle 30 being incorrectly mounted, some contaminants may leak through a crack caused by the incompletely or incorrectly connected dust receptacle 30 and the cyclone unit 20, and the process of collecting into the dust receptacle 30 may contaminate the neighboring area.
The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an upright type vacuum cleaner having an improved structure, which is capable of preventing incorrect mounting of a dust receptacle during the mounting process.
The above object is accomplished by an upright type vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, including a cleaner body having a vacuum generating apparatus disposed therein and a suction brush disposed at a lower side; a cyclone unit for separating contaminants from a contaminant-laden air and discharging a contaminant-free air through an outflow passage interconnected with the vacuum generating apparatus, the contaminant-laden air being drawn in through an inflow passage interconnected with the suction brush; a dust receptacle removably connected to a underside of the cyclone unit for collecting the contaminants separated by the cyclone unit from the air; a locking unit which is longitudinally movable, for connecting to and separating the dust receptacle from a lower portion of the cyclone unit by longitudinally moving the dust receptacle upward and downward; and a means for preventing an incorrect connection of the dust receptacle to the underside of the cyclone unit.
The incorrect connection preventing means includes a position guiding pin protruding from a predetermined location of a lower portion of the dust receptacle; and a guide slit formed at a predetermined position of the locking unit, for either interrupting pivoting of the locking unit, or for guiding the dust receptacle being moved from a pre-mounting state to be separated from the cyclone unit, depending on whether the dust receptacle is correctly pre-mounted in the cyclone unit.
The locking unit includes an operation lever pivotally mounted in the cleaner body; and a locking disc moved upward or downward according to the pivoting of the operation lever to move the dust receptacle upward to engage the cyclone unit or downward to disengage from the cyclone unit.
The incorrect connection preventing means includes: a position guiding pin protruding from a predetermined location of the lower side of the dust receptacle; and a guide slit formed in the operation lever, for either interrupting pivoting of the operation lever, or for guiding the dust receptacle being moved from a pre-mounting state so as to separate from the cyclone unit, depending on whether the dust receptacle is correctly pre-mounted in the cyclone unit.
The guide slit includes a first guide slit formed in an upper surface of the operation lever in a predetermined width, such that the guide pin is passed through the first guide slit during pivoting of the operation lever with the dust receptacle being in a normal position; a second guide slit extending from the first guide slit and crossing the direction of pivoting of the operation lever for guiding the guide pin to separate the dust receptacle from the cyclone unit when the dust receptacle is incorrectly mounted; and an interruption groove formed between the first and second guide slits for interrupting the guide pin during pivoting of the operation lever to thereby interrupt the pivoting when the dust receptacle is in an abnormal position.